About Apostolic Succession - OCCNA
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What is Apostolic Succesion
One will often read and hear Old Catholic, Independent
Catholic, and Anglian churches and clergy declare they have, “valid orders”,
which refers to their Apostolic Succession. This claim is made in to assure the
laity they have valid Sacraments and, in many cases, to present themselves as a
real church. But what is Apostolic Succession and why it is so important.
Apostolic succession is the belief that the authority
given by Christ to His apostles has been handed down through successive
generations of church leaders. This succession is often understood in terms of
ordination, where bishops, priests, and deacons are consecrated by those who
were themselves ordained in an unbroken chain tracing back to the apostles.
However, apostolic succession is much more than just the
laying on of hands in an unbroken chain it also ensures the continuity of the
Church’s teaching, sacramental ministry, and pastoral oversight. It guards
against theological drift, maintains order within the Church, and affirms that
those who serve in leadership roles have been entrusted with a sacred duty. And
that sacred duty is to preserve and teach the faith once delivered through the
apostles and handed down as holy / apostolic tradition.
As such only those churches which have both lines of
ordination and profess the Doctrine of the Apostles interpreted and proclaimed
by the Early Church and the Ecumenical Councils are considered to fully hold
Apostolic Succession. As such we only recognize the Eastern Orthodox, Roman
Catholic, and Independent and Old Catholics that have not allowed their
personal beliefs and “reason” to take precedent over the ancient faith of the
church. As such we do not recognize any church or ordination by a church that
has established their own doctrines such as, not believing the bread and wine
become the Body and Blood of Christ, Mary as the ever-virgin Mother of God
(Theotokos) and other doctrines found in the Anathema Statements of the Ecumenical
Councils. Nor do we accept as valid ordered of any church practicing female
ordination, same sex unions, and teaching doctrines like the “rapture”